CART: Weather Dampens Final Test Day for Team Motorola

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

Indianapolis, IN-- The unusual occurrence of rain in the deserts of Phoenix put a damper on the final day of testing for Team Motorola and driver Michael Andretti on Wednesday. The team did complete a nearly full day of testing on Tuesday at the One-mile oval at Phoenix International Raceway with Andretti turning a quick lap of 20.9 seconds, but showers began at 4:00 p.m. and continued through the day on Wednesday putting an end to the pre-season testing for Team Motorola.

"We ran 138 miles on Tuesday and spent the majority of the day working on our qualification set-ups," explained team manager Tony Cotman. "They were small changes and fine tuning on the set-up to figure out the kind of car Michael likes for qualifying which is sometimes the line between comfortable and fast for the driver. We planned on working through long runs on Wednesday but the weather took care of that test plan."

Team Motorola driver Michael Andretti was disappointed in losing the final test day but still found a silver lining in the situation. "I am so glad we banked that test day from Homestead earlier this season or my only day in Phoenix would have been watching the rain on Wednesday," said Andretti. "I feel like we ended our testing on a good note. The car was fast and comfortable and I am very happy with the way the car feels on the oval. I think we will be competitive when we get to Texas in April."

Team Motorola returned to Indianapolis to complete final preparations for the CART FedEx season opener scheduled for March 11, 2001 in Monterrey, Mexico.

Text Provided By Jana Griffith

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